Louder Than Thunder

The next morning, the girls were invited down to join band and the road crew in the main dining hall to partake in the complimentary breakfast. Paul led them down once they were dressed washed.
“By the way, where were you last night, girls?” Paul asked as they entered the elevator.
“We ‘eard about this party,” Michelle said.
“So you went?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“Well, it didn’t exactly go as most parties do,” Darlene admitted.
“Yeah, it went ‘orribly, actually. These rockers dropped by just to cause some trouble. It took the whole party just to chase them away. There must ‘ave been, like, fifty of us and thirty of ‘em,” Mary explained.
“Oh, how strange.”
“Yeah. This one bloke almost beat me up but Darlene helped me get ‘im.”
“How’d you do it?” Paul asked, sounding impressed.
“Mary kicked him in the balls! It was great!” Darlene blurted as the elevator doors opened. “Then I kicked him and he was lying on the ground, holding his crotch and whining.”
“Good teamwork, by the way,” Mary added.
They headed into the dining area, where the largest table was occupied by the road crew. The band had a slightly smaller table to the side, where the girls noticed three spaces open for them.
“Will you be okay sitting with them?” Paul asked, noticing their worried stares.
“Yeah, we can handle it,” Mary said, giving a cat-eye stare.
“Alright. Good luck and, please, don’t provoke them.”
“Why would we ever do that?” Michelle asked as the girls entered the line-up for the buffet.
They brought their meals over to the table and sat down, without saying a word to the boys.
“Good morning.”
Michelle turned to the seat next to her to see Kurt’s boyish face. He smiled strangely happily. Michelle smiled back awkwardly, unsure of what he meant by it.
“Good morning,” she replied.
He nodded and returned to his meal. Michelle turned back to hers.
“How was your party last night, girls?” Keith’s dangerous voice asked.
“How did you know about that?” Mary demanded to know, already on edge.
“Because some of my friends were there.”
“It was you!”
“Mary, please, calm down,” Darlene begged.
“No! You found out about the party and sent a group of your rocker friends to ruin it!”
This revelation had Mary on her feet. Michelle continued eating her food calmly as possible.
“Mary, remember what Paul said? Please, sit down.”
Mary sat back down, but she wasn’t happy about it. She played with her food while staring down at Keith. Darlene looked up between the two.
“Mary, stop staring.”
Keith didn’t seem to care that she was watching. He knew alright, but definitely did not care. He turned to her, smiling a devil’s smile. Mary didn’t change her expression once. She was determined to win at whatever it was he was trying to do to her.
“It’s not like the party was that good anyway,” Keith added suddenly.
“Mary, be quiet,” Michelle ushered.
“No!” Mary yelled, standing up now.
“Jesus Christ,” Paul said, dropping his fork.
“You are a bloody bastard! Someone could have been seriously hurt, the way you riled them up and sent them after us!”
“Oh yeah, I heard you kicked one of ‘em in the balls. ‘e’s alright now, if you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t,” Mary replied, crossing her arms.
“Alright, look,” Keith said, dropping his napkin and standing to his full height. “I don’t know you, and I don’t have to, to know that I don’t like you.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel bad? I don’t like you either, you fuckin’ wanker.”
“‘ey, look, we don’t need any back-talkin’ girls to be our openin’ act. Alright?”
“Well, now you’ve got us! We are good, not that you would know. Let me guess, you think only men play rock ‘n’ roll. You think that only men are outcast and poor, only men understand what rock ‘n’ roll really is.”
“You wanna know what rock ‘n’ roll is?”
“You don’t listen! I know what rock ‘n’ roll is, whether you believe me or not!”
“Wha’ is it then?”
“What is it? It’s sex! It’s our most primal desire to get around and to do it our way without any barriers, even the barriers of nature itself! Rock ‘n’ roll is-“
“A man’s world! Women ‘ave to worry about stuff like that and men don’t, okay?”
“You don’t know what women worry about! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the only person in the world you understand is yourself.”
“You think I don’t understand the average person?”
“I think you don't care!”
"I don't care!"
“Well, you should considering they’re your audience; they’re our audience.”
“Go fuckin’ play for your people, then! Go on! Your people are here! We oughtta drop you, you’re not ready to tour.”
“You don’t fuckin’ know us.”
It was happening; Mary was beginning to crack. Mary never cracked, but most people wouldn’t take her on in an argument. She was far too stubborn and could hold out until she came out on top. You simply couldn’t argue with her, so going against someone who also wouldn't give up was the only way there was a chance of her simply giving up.
“Look, Keith, you don’t know who we are! You’re being a real prick to people you don’t even know and you’re assuming that you’re right and you’re not. We don’t have to listen to this, come on Mary,” Darlene said, standing up with her plate.
Mary stood up and followed Darlene away from the table. Michelle threw her fork into her plate, offering a weak smile to the two boys closest to them - Kurt and Sidney - who smiled back apologetically.
They sat around a smaller table, Mary breathing heavily to calm herself down. Michelle and Darlene continued eating.
“You okay?” Darlene asked, looking up from a bite of overcooked egg.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Don’t worry; they’ll warm up to us eventually. They’ll have to because we’re not going anywhere.”
“No. This changes nothing. If anything, I want to stay around even more. We get to play for people and they get pissed off every time they see our faces.”
“Our faces are better looking anyways,” Darlene said, leaning her head on her hands in a model-esque pose.
“You go, American,” Michelle cheered, taking a bite of her toast. “Anyways, we’ve got to spend six hours on a plane with them so we better have some kind of peace. Even tense peace is better than bickering.”
“So, if they say anything to us, we’ll talk about how pretty our faces are and they’ll think we’re just girls who only care about our looks,” Mary snapped.
“Mary, you know we won’t say that. What’s buggin’ you?”
Mary dropped her fork and leaned back in her chair. Her foot swung in a small arc, twitching in nervous uncertainty.
“Come on, Mary, you can talk to us. You know you can.”
“I know. Fine, it’s just. . .guys like that are the same guys who stand at the back of those shitty, fifth-rate places we’ve spent nearly a year in. They kept us back, and they can send us back. We can’t let them do that to us. Music is the only thing I’ve ever been really interested in and I’m not gonna let anyone ruin that for me, and especially not guys like that.”
All the boys were looking over at her now. Mary was fully prepared to march off upstairs. She would have been perfectly happy to continue touring, as long as she didn’t have to face those boys again. It wasn’t the argument she was afraid of, it was being taken off-guard and in the wrong moment.

Later that day, Paul brought the girls through the airport a small while before the band, avoiding the Leatherjackets’ fans, which were crowded around the entrance. Their car dropped them off and Paul brought them through security, keeping their passports with him. They got on the plane a whole hour before the Leatherjackets made it to board.
They finally took off, beginning the long flight to the United States. Even though the boys were up in first class, that didn’t stop them from tossing napkins back at the girls and writing them fake notes from other male passengers.
The girls were extremely glad when they finally found interest conversing with some Italian girls, who had to stop in London on their own way to New York. Michelle got to writing in her notebook, Mary to reading a magazine, and Darlene to sleeping.

They arrived around what would have been midnight in London; in New York, it was only seven o’ clock. When they exited the airport, more fans were present trying to catch a glimpse or more of their favourite rock band. Perhaps their favourite member would touch their hand, look their way, or acknowledge their existance.
The girls were excited to see the sight: a crowd of American fans, cheering loudly for the music of their generation. Some were crying and sobbing into their friends’ shoulders, unable to believe that what they were seeing was real; unable to comprehend that these boys, whose music had probably changed their lives in some way, for the better, were real people who existed in the same universe as they did.
The road crew finally made it to the cars, piled in and they drove off to the hotel, hoping to get their rest soon.
“They don’t deserve any of that,” Mary said bitterly.
“I’m sure they worked the club rounds as well.”
“I bet it was easier for them.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter. If it was easier for them, we can be prouder of ourselves for working harder,” Darlene explained, leaning her head tiredly against the seat.
“You know, if you keep acting like this, soon you won’t be any better than him,” Michelle pointed out. “Don’t let yourself get too caught up in how they treat us. Let’s just focus on our music and let them build up or ruin their own careers.”
Mary sighed, leaning back. She looked out of the window, admiring the height of the buildings nearby as they entered the city. Michelle and Darlene all looked out their windows as well now.
“They’re so tall,” Michelle remarked.
“I feel so much closer to home,” Darlene sighed.